Darla Discovers a Bug's Life
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: When Darla disrespects bugs, Atticus decides that she should find out how tough it is to live a bug's life. Darla, Atticus, Amber, and Cherry then become ants and go to a place called Ant Island to find out just how hard it is to be a bug.
1. Chapter 1

Darla and Amber were walking home from school together, there was then an ant carrying a leaf in front of them.

"Ew, a bug, kill it!" Darla cringed before letting her foot out to stomp and crush the insect.

"No, don't hurt it!" Amber stopped her best friend, then smiled to the ant. "Go ahead, little fella, go to your Queen."

The ant then seemed to smile to her and kept going off.

"Why didn't you want me to crush it?" Darla asked.

"Because, it's still a living thing..." Amber said. "Besides, ants have a hard enough life as it is."

"It's a bug..." Darla deadpanned.

"Bugs have a harder life than we do..." Amber shrugged.

"Oh, come on, how hard could their life be?" Darla asked.

"Sounds like someone needs an adventure with in a bug's life." Atticus said as he appeared.

Darla and Amber turned around to see Atticus.

Cherry was lazily chewing gum. "What's this about bugs?"

"I'm about to change myself, Darla, and Amber into bugs so then Darla can understand a bug's life." Atticus said.

"Hey!" Darla frowned.

Cherry snickered and laughed out loud. "Oh, man, have fun with that! So glad I won't be here for that, if anyone hates bugs more than the average person, it's me!"

"I know," Atticus said before looking to the girls. "We'll be ants for this adventure."

Cherry kept laughing.

Atticus narrowed his eyes. "You can stop now."

Cherry put a finger up and kept laughing while Darla and Amber started to look annoyed. Atticus soon smirked as he used his magic to shrink him, Darla, Amber, and Cherry down to the size of ants and each of them were even changed into ants.

* * *

"What the?!" Cherry asked before pouting.

"I think you could learn to like bugs too, Cherry." Atticus said.

"What about spiders?!" Cherry's eyes widened.

Darla looked surprised. "An emo is afraid of spiders?"

"Let's just get going to the rest of the ants." Atticus said.

"And I'm not an emo..." Cherry narrowed her eyes. "I'm a goth."

"What's the difference?" Amber asked.

"Uh-oh." Atticus said.

" **WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?!** " Cherry glared.

"Now you've done it." Darla sighed.

Cherry ranted to Amber as Atticus took the lead to find a location known as Ant Island.

* * *

Cherry continued to rant while they followed Atticus. "And that's the difference..." she then concluded to Amber.

"Wow..." Amber said as that was a lot to take in.

"Atticus, where are we?" Darla asked. "I want my after school snack..."

"We've made it to Ant Island." Atticus said.

"Ant Island?" Darla and Amber asked.

"Where the ants don't get food for the queen, these ants must get food for the grasshoppers." Cherry said.

"What, why? There are thousands of ants and well, about I think 50 grasshoppers." Amber said.

"That's what we're going to find out.' Cherry said.

"How do you guys know so much about this place?" Darla asked.

"I did a little exploring earlier and found it." Atticus said.

"And he wouldn't shut up about it." Cherry then said dryly.

"What can I say? It was interesting." Atticus said.

"Why are we doing this?" Darla asked. "Bugs don't have feelings."

"Trust me, you'll find out that they do." Atticus said as they continued their way and saw many ants at work.

The ants appeared to walk on two legs while carrying foods above them.

One leaf fell which made one of the ants scream out. " **I'M LOST, WHERE'S THE LINE?!** "

"They're joking, right?" Darla asked.

The other ants panicked at this while Darla didn't see what the big deal was.

"Do not panic, do not panic," one ant told the ones behind the leaf. "We are trained professionals. Now stay calm. We are going around the leaf."

"A-Around the leaf?" one panicking ant asked. "I-I don't think we can do that."

"Some of these ants are cowards, aren't they?" Darla whispered to Amber.

"You have a lot to learn..." Amber sighed as she cared for all creatures of the world, no matter what.

The ants took the lead ant's advice and they walked around the leaf with ease.

"Should we get rid of that leaf?" Amber asked Atticus.

Atticus went to the leaf and waited for the ants to pass and then removed it which allowed the other ants to walk by okay.

"I wonder where the queen is?" Amber hummed to herself.

"I thought only bees had queens?" Darla asked.

"No, no, usually food goes to the Queen Ant," Amber replied. "The Queen is very important in the insect world."

Darla pouted. "I wanna be a queen."

"I think that might be the queen." Cherry said as she saw two ants fanning two ants one of them was older than the other.

"Which one?" Amber asked, sounding fascinated.

"I'm gonna guess it's the older one." Cherry estimated.

"That would make sense." Atticus said.

* * *

Cherry, Atticus, Darla, and Amber came to the queen.

"Oh, I don't believe I recognize you all..." the Queen spotted the new ants on the island.

"Um, we're new around here, Your Highness." Atticus bowed.

"I can see that..." the Queen actually smiled. "Welcome to my island."

A tiny creature known as an aphid glared at the strangers and even barked at them.

"Oh, down, Aphie, these are new friends!" the Queen told her pet. "I'm sorry about that, dears."

"It's okay, Aphie, was it? Is just being protective." Atticus smiled.

"He gets that way around strangers sometimes..." the Queen smiled back.

Aphie then settled down to her and came back into her lap.

"Oh, you look so strong and noble, you remind me of my husband..." the Queen said before sighing sharply. "Bug rest his soul."

"My brother exercises a lot, he's probably the strongest per-ant of them all." Darla said.

"So I see..." the Queen smiled. "We could really use someone like you in our colony. I'd help a little more, but I need to train my daughter Atta."

"She seems a bit nervous and stressed." Atticus said as he noticed the queen's daughter, pacing left and right.

"Maybe you guys could help cheer her up?" the Queen suggested. "I'm not sure what else I can really do."

Atta got more nervous as she saw that there was a gap in the line. Darla and Amber came to see the older ant princess.

* * *

"Oh, winds died down," Princess Atta said nervously. "They'll be here soon."

"Just be confident, dear," the Queen soothed. "You'll be fine."

"She's right, Princess Atta, now just calm down and relax." Atticus added.

" **THERE'S A GAP IN THE LINE!** " Princess Atta panicked. " **WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!** "

"I think I liked The Buzz on Maggie bugs on Disney Channel better." Darla whispered to Cherry.

"Same here." Cherry whispered back.

"Princess, it's going to be okay." Atticus said.

"Huh?" Princess Atta looked at him. "W-Who are you?"

"My name is Atticus and this is my little sister, Darla, her best friend, Amber and my best friend and sister figure, Cherry." Atticus introduced.

"Are you from another colony?" Princess Atta asked.

"I don't know where they came from, dear, but I think they can help us." the Queen told her elder daughter.

"We could really use the help." Atta said.

"Well, believe me, I can help." Atticus bowed.

"Why don't you girls play with my other daughter?" the Queen suggested as Darla and Amber looked bored.

"Other daughter?" Darla and Amber asked.

"Oh, Dot, could you come here, please?" the Queen called out.

They soon heard something coming from under the ground. Darla and Amber looked around.

There were two ants coming out from the ground who were then running. "Ditch, Dot!"

Darla and Amber jumped back in surprise.

"Hey, come back here!" a tiny ant girl with wings on her back chased after them. She began to try to fly after them, but she couldn't seem to fly.

"Dot!" the Queen scolded.

"Yes, Mother?" the young ant girl asked nervously.

"What did I tell you about trying to fly?" the Queen then prompted.

"Not until my wings grow fully..." Dot replied.

"Right." the Queen then nodded.

"But Mom!" Dot complained.

"Dot, you're a young queen ant and your wings are too little to be-" Princess Atta started to her younger sister.

"I was talking to Mother," Dot glared at her. "You're not the queen yet, Atta!"

"You should be nice to your sister." Darla said.

"She's right." the Queen agreed.

"It's not my fault she's always stressing out!" Dot scoffed.

"Well, being queen has lots of responsibilities, can you blame her for getting stressed?" Amber asked.

"Thank you, at least someone finally gets it." Princess Atta sounded relieved.

"Now just relax, everything is going to just fine, Your Majesty," Atticus said to Princess Atta before he saw something about to land on her. "Would mind moving over to my sister and our friends, Your Majesty?"

Princess Atta then shrugged and moved out of the way with the others to see what Atticus had to show her, and where she saw something land in front of them that would have landed on top of her.

"At least I'm not hurt." Cherry said innocently.

"I'll get this to the food supply." Atticus said.

"Oh, thank you, kind friend." the Queen smiled to Atticus.

Atticus soon lifted up the food that landed and then caught another one that came out of nowhere. The other ants seemed to enjoy this. Cherry rolled her eyes slightly.

* * *

"Excuse me! Would you watch where your throwing those!?" Darla called out to an ant that seemed to be using some device.

"Oh, uh, sorry..." the ant said nervously. "I'm sorry..."

"What is that thing?" Darla asked him then.

"This is an invention I made for harvesting grain." the ant smiled to her.

"Oh, no, it's Flik." One of the male ants groaned.

"Flik?" Darla asked. "That's a strange name."

"These ants might have strange names, but it's what they are named." Amber whispered.

Darla shrugged back to her best friend. The other ants seemed to hate Flik. Soon enough, Flik accidentally ran into Princess Atta and they seemed to get stuck to each other.

"I can already somehow tell that those two are meant to be together." Amber whispered.

Darla rolled her eyes. "Whatever, they're just bugs."

Amber sighed. "Darla..."

"I used to be like you," Cherry said to Darla. "Then I went to FernGully and a fairy named Crysta accidentally shrunk me and this boy Zak to three inches tall."

"Really?" Darla asked.

"Oh, so if I don't go on an adventure with Atticus, suddenly I'm crazy?" Cherry rolled her eyes.

"No, no." Darla said.

"Good..." Cherry replied. "I have a hard enough time getting my dad to believe half of my journeys around the world."

"So, Flik, what else can you invent?" Amber asked.

"Lots of things, also finding food will be a lot easier with this: The Harvester." Flik smiled as he showed his new invention.

"Flik, we don't have time for this." Princess Atta said, sounding annoyed.

"Exactly, we never have time to collect food for ourselves 'cuz we spend all summer harvesting for the offering, but my invention will speed up production!" Flik replied.

"What next? Something to help ants see things far away?" Cherry asked with a scoff.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Flik smiled to her.

Cherry then face-palmed. "My brain hurts."

Flik started to get to work on his next invention. He took a blade of grass and a drop of water from a flower. "This is for you, Princess Atta."

"Oh, great." Princess Atta replied nervously.

"What is it?" Darla asked.

"Just an ordinary blade of grass and a bead of dew, right?" Flik asked as he was finished. "Wrong! It is, in fact, a telescope!"

Dot and her mother giggled a little bit.

"Oh, great." Cherry groaned.

"It's clever, Flik." Princess Atta smiled nervously.

"Yeah." Darla said.

"You have to admit it's clever." Atticus said to Cherry.

"Squish me." Cherry deadpanned.

"You are only positive on your birthday and on Halloween, but not when someone has invented something." Atticus said.

"It's just a telescope..." Cherry replied. "You can buy one at an astronomy store or whatever!"

"Yeah, but an ant-sized telescope?" Atticus asked with a smirk.

"A telescope is a telescope." Cherry deadpanned.

"Still impressive." Atticus said.

"Hello Princess, my, aren't you looking lovely this morning?" Flik tested his telescope on the princess. "Not of course that you'd need a telescope to see that."

 _'I can sense a connection between them.'_ Amber thought to herself.

" **ALRIGHT, LISTEN!** The princess doesn't have time for this," one ant scolded Flik. "You wanna help us build this thing? Then get rid of that machine, get back in line, **AND PICK GRAIN LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE!** "

"Like everybody else!" Another ant added.

"Please, Flik, just go." Princess Atta said gently to the inventor ant.

"I'm sorry, I was really just trying… Trying to help..." Flik frowned before he soon left.

Atticus frowned, feeling bad for him. Amber frowned, feeling the same way about Flik. Dot looked at Flik's telescope and picked it up as she decided to give it back to him.

"She seems to be wanting to give it back to him." Darla said.

Amber smiled to Dot and decided to go with her. Darla sighed as she went along.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why do you guys gotta get food for the grasshoppers?" Cherry asked the Queen. "If anyone should get the food, it should be you, you're the queen!"

"I fully agree, but it's Hopper's rules." the Queen replied.

"And you just do as he says?" Atticus asked.

"I have to..." the Queen frowned.

"Well, if tries anything, I'll teach him a lesson." Atticus said as he cracked his knuckles.

"My husband once said those words..." the Queen said softly. "You remind me so much of him."

"He must have been a strong, brave, and wise king." Atticus said.

"Oh, yes, he really was..." the Queen nodded. "You remind me so much of him."

Atticus smiled shyly to that. They soon heard the sound of a horn being blown.

"Um, what was that?" Cherry asked, a little on the edge.

"That's our warning signal telling us that the grasshoppers are coming." Princess Atta said.

"Oh, no..." Cherry and Atticus said to each other.

All the ants started to panic and ran all over the place.

"Get in your hill!" Cherry told them. " **GET IN YOUR HILL!** "

None of the ants seemed to listen.

Cherry groaned. "I'm being ignored, no one's listening to me, and people keep panicking, I'm the President of the United States." She soon see Atticus looking at her like she was being dramatic about the last part before he went to higher ground so he could get the ants' attention when he spoke to them.

The ants kept scattering around.

Atticus then whistled to get their attention. "YO!"

This caused all the ants to stop running and screaming.

"Quick, we don't have a whole lot of time; anyone who has any food left, put it with the rest of the food on the offering stone and then meet the rest of us inside!" Atticus told them like a leader.

The ants nodded and did what he said.

"How did you do that?" Cherry asked in annoyance as she stood beside him.

"I don't know I guess I just have some leader instincts inside me." Atticus said.

They soon saw Dot, Darla, and Amber rushing over to her mother and them.

"You're dumb." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"You're strange," Atticus replied, then looked out for his little sister and her friend. "Darla? Amber!"

"We heard the warning horn." Darla said.

"Mom, where are you?!" Dot cried out in worry.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." Amber soothed.

"There she is." Atticus said as he saw the queen looking for her younger daughter.

"Dot? DOT!"

"Mom!" Dot rushed over to her mother from the stampede of fleeing ants.

"Thank Heavens." the Queen hugged Dot once they reunited.

"Your Highness, you and Dot better get inside as well." Atticus said.

"Come on, Dottie." the Queen told her younger daughter before she called out to her people. "Okay, everybody, single file, let's GO!"

* * *

All of the ants soon got into a single file line while still going into the ant hill. They had to be quick before the grasshoppers would show up. It was the same thing every day for these ants: They come, they eat, they leave. Once everyone was inside, Princess Atta rushed inside as well, except, everyone wasn't inside.

"Is that everybody?" the Queen asked, doing a quick headcount.

"I think so." Cherry said.

Flik was trying to save the day with one of his inventions which would only spell out disaster for the ant colony, and which it did as his invention accidentally sent all of the offering food into the water. Atticus poked his head out and gasped.

"Whoa..." Darla whispered. "All their food is gone..."

"Oh, no..." Flik gulped before he rushed inside. "Princess Atta! Princess Atta! Princess Atta!"

Up above the skies, the grasshoppers were coming and fast.

"Now do you see how hard it is being a bug?" Atticus asked.

"Now I know." Darla replied.

"I suggest we get inside." Atticus said.

"We can't go home?" Darla asked.

"Not yet, now come on." Atticus said and went down with his little sister.

"Alright then." Darla shrugged.

"They come, they eat, they leave," Princess Atta whispered to herself nervously about the grasshoppers. "They come, they eat, they leave..."

Flik started to make his way to the elder ant princess. "Princess Atta, there's something I need to tell you."

"Not now, Flik." Princess Atta replied nervously and impatiently.

"But Your Highness; it's about the offering-" Flik replied.

"Shh!" Princess Atta shushed him.

The grasshoppers were now coming in for a landing.

"Should we tell the princess?" Darla whispered to Atticus.

"Shh." Atticus warned her as now was not the time to talk.

There were however complaints of unpleased grasshoppers.

"Hey, what's going on?!"

"Yeah!"

"Where's the food?!"

"Then again, maybe we should have warned her." Atticus whispered.

"Is this part of the lesson?" Darla deadpanned.

"You'll find out." Atticus said.

"What did you do?" one ant glared at Flik.

All the other ants soon glared at Flik since the food being missing was his fault.

"It was an accident..." Flik frowned.

The ants then screamed as the grasshoppers were going to invade now since there was no food for them.

"Atticus, do something." Darla said.

The Queen held Dot as the lead grasshopper stormed over, demanding his food. Atticus nodded to Darla, telling her that he would handle this. Darla then stepped back with Amber as she was also being protected by the Queen.

"Where's my food?!" the lead grasshopper demanded.

"Hopper, is it?" Atticus greeted.

"Yeah?" The lead grasshopper glared. "And who are you?"

"I am Atticus." Atticus stood brave and tall.

"Hopper, I think he thinks he can challenge you." a bumbling grasshopper laughed beside Hopper which gratefully annoyed him instantly.

"He's your brother, right?" Atticus asked Hopper with his detective skills.

"He's more of an unwanted constant embarrassment..." Hopper scoffed.

Princess Atta shivered nervously as she hoped Hopper wouldn't threaten her because of the lack of food supply.

"Now, Hopper, why can't you and the rest of the grasshoppers just go and get food yourselves instead of getting us ants to get the food for you as offerings to you and the grasshoppers?" Atticus asked.

"Because that's the way it is, kid," Hopper glared. "And I'm afraid it's going to be that way for the rest of existence! It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, a circle of life thing, this is how it's supposed to work: The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, and the grasshoppers eat the food."

"And the bird eats the grasshopper." Atticus smirked.

Hopper glared at that sharply.

"Hey, like the one who nearly ate you," Hopper's brother chuckled. "You remember? You remember? Oh, you should've seen it," he then said to Atticus. "This blue jay, he has him halfway down his throat, okay? And H-Hopper's kickin' and screamin', okay? And I'm scared, okay? I'm not goin' anywhere near, okay?-"

"I think you should stop talking so your brother doesn't get angry." Atticus suggested as he saw Hopper was getting annoyed.

"Aw, come on, it's a great story..." Hopper's brother said until he was pulled against the wall by his furious brother.

"I swear, Molt, if I hadn't promised Mother on her death bed that I wouldn't kill you, I would kill you." Hopper deeply scowled.

"Yikes." Darla winced.

"And believe me, no one appreciates that more than I do." Molt said to Hopper.

"Shut up," Hopper hissed. "I don't want to hear another word out of you while we're on this island. Do you understand me?"

Molt didn't say a word.

"If you understand him, nod your head." Atticus told Molt.

Molt looked to Atticus and then nodded his head. Hopper rolled his eyes at his simpleton of a brother.

"So, what now?" Atticus asked.

"There's still a few months 'til the rains come, so you can all just try again." Hopper told the ants.

"But Hopper, since it's almost the rainy season, we need this time to gather food for ourselves." the Queen spoke up.

" _Listen_ , if you don't keep your end of the bargain, then I can't guarantee your safety, and there are insects out there that will take advantage of you... Someone…could... get... hurt." he then snapped his fingers which summoned a feral grasshopper who looked like a savage compared to the others and was being held back on a leash by two other grasshoppers.

"Who or what is that?" Atticus asked.

"This is our friend, Thumper," Hopper smirked as Darla, Amber, and Dot looked scared. "You're not scared, are ya?"

"Don't you dare touch them." Atticus glared.

"You're not scared of Thumper, are you?" Hopper taunted.

"You heard him..." Cherry snarled as her eyes seemed to flash red briefly. "Leave them alone."

Darla and Amber both got behind Atticus and Cherry and where Dot joined them. Cherry and Atticus glared firmly at the grasshoppers. Hopper glared back as he soon found these two not so easy to scare.

"Leave... **NOW!** " Cherry demanded.

"We'll be back..." Hopper glared into her eyes, then looked to the other ants. "We'll be back at the end of the season."

"We'll have your food ready by that time." Atticus glared back.

"You better..." Hopper scowled before he took a piece of skin off of his brother. "Before the last leaf falls..." he then said, using the skin as an example before going off with the other grasshoppers.

The ants understood what he meant by that.

"You ants have a nice summer..." Hopper said calmly before yelling out to his group. "LET'S RIDE!"

The grasshoppers then flew out of the anthill. Once all of the grasshoppers were gone, almost all of the ants glared at Flik. Flik looked worried and nervous from their angry stares.

"He's in trouble." Cherry said.

"Very much..." Atticus felt bad for Flik.

"Flik, what do you have to say for yourself?" Princess Atta glared at the ant to blame.

"Sorry," Flik replied. "I'm sorry for the way I am. I didn't mean for things to go so wrong. I especially didn't want to make you look bad, princess."

"Well, Flik, ya did." Princess Atta scoffed.

"I just wanted to help." Flik frowned.

"Then help us by not helping us." one ant glared.

The word help began to give Flik an idea.

"Look, I'm sure Flit-" Cherry started.

"Flik." the others corrected.

"Whatever, is very sorry, and we'll do anything to help you guys with those bogus grasshopper guys." Cherry then said.

"Yeah, if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know." Darla said.

"Maybe you should just leave the island, Flik." an ant suggested.

This made Flik's idea grow as he seemed to think of a way that might be able to help his colony. "IT'S PERFECT!"

"Perfect?" The Queen asked. "What's so perfect?"

"Your Highness, don't you see?" Flik replied to the Queen. "We could send someone to get help."

"Leave the island?" Princess Atta asked as she stood with the Council of Ants.

"Now, why didn't I think of that?" the Queen rhetorically asked. "Oh! Because it's suicide!"

"It is?" Darla asked.

"No one who has left the island has come back alive," the Queen replied to her. "We never leave the island!"

"Well, then maybe, he will be the first one." Darla said.

"There's snakes and birds and bigger bugs out there!" one ant replied.

"My brother can handle any snake, bird, or bigger bugs." Darla said.

"Besides, this is why we need to go!" Flik smiled. "It's because of the bigger bugs! We could find bigger bugs to come here and fight and forever rid us of Hopper and his gang!"

"I agree." Atticus said.

"That actually does sound good," Cherry said. "But, it might be too dangerous for the little ones."

"I agree." Darla said.

"You girls stay here while we go in the city." Cherry said.

"Royal Huddle!" one ant called and they then met with the princess to discuss this plan.

Atticus was able to overhear the conversation with his super-hearing.

"Wait a minute, what did we just decide here?" Princess Atta asked.

"To let Flik and those other folks leave." an ant replied.

"While we keep harvesting to meet Hopper's demands." the other ant added in.

"You see, with Flik gone..." the doctor ant prompted.

"He can't mess anything up!" Princess Atta then concluded with a smile.

"I have a good feeling they're going to accept the request." Atticus smiled.

"Of course you do." Cherry nearly deadpanned, knowing he had to have used some of his powers from being under Superman's wing for his advantage.

"Flik, Atticus, Cherry, The Council and I have spoken and we accept your request." Princess Atta said.

"Really?" Flik smiled.

"Really." Princess Atta nodded and even her mother agreed.

"Oh, thank you princess, thank you so much for this chance, I won't let you down, I promise, I promise, I promise!" Flik smiled as he shook the princess's hand vigorously.

"Well, then we better get going." Atticus said.

"Oh, but I should probably help repair some of the damage before I go, don't you think?" Flik then suggested.

The Council of Ants then urged for him to leave right away.

"I think they'll be okay." Atticus said.

"We'll bring you guys some help and you'll never have to worry about those grasshoppers again." Cherry vowed as they then took their leave away from Ant Island.

"Why can't we come?" Darla asked.

"It might be too dangerous, you guys are too little." Atticus said.

"Aw, Atticus, you're my brother..." Darla replied easily.

"I'm supposed to behave like your brother." Atticus said.

"You can protect me though." Darla pouted.

"Darla, you can go with Atticus; I'll stay here and help as much as I can." Cherry said.

"You're gonna help." Atticus said before laughing.

"I'm trying to get you two to have a brother/sister adventure together with Flik." Cherry said.

"Then you shouldn't have made fun of bugs..." Atticus then warned. "You sure you'll be okay without me?"

"Ah, what could happen?" Cherry shrugged. "Those grasshoppers promised they wouldn't bother us for another three months."

"True." Atticus nodded.

"Go, go, I'll live." Cherry replied calmly.

"Okay." Atticus said.

"Well, looks like I get to get going." Darla smiled.

"Stay close to me, we don't know how hard it can be to be a bug around these parts." Atticus reminded his little sister.

"Okay." Darla said.

"Come on, Flik, we're ready." Atticus then said.

"Let's go then!" Flik smiled to the ones who wanted to come with him on this journey.

"This is so exciting." Darla smiled.

* * *

The other ants went to work on repair after the grasshoppers' visit as Flik, Atticus, and Darla were getting set to go.

"An adventure we will~" Darla sang.

Atticus smiled to her.


	3. Chapter 3

After a while, they were ready for the journey. Cherry waved as they were going off with Flik to look for warrior bugs.

"And away we go." Atticus said.

Darla stood close with Atticus since he was her big brother and all.

"We'll get through this together." Atticus said.

Darla smiled up to him.

"Come on, guys, let's get going." Flik smiled back to them.

They then went off and the young ants followed after them.

"Hey, guys." Darla said.

"Hey fellas, beautiful morning, huh?" Flik greeted.

"My dad says he gives you one hour before you come back to the island crying." one ant boy said.

"Your dad's going to lose that bet." Darla said.

"My dad doesn't think that." the other ant boy said.

"He doesn't, huh?" Flik asked him.

"He bets you're all gonna die." the other ant boy replied.

"And he is wrong, we won't die." Atticus said.

"Well, he says if the heat doesn't get ya, then the birds will." the boy ant replied.

"Well, I think they're gonna make it." Dot defended.

"Nobody asked you, Your Royal Shortness." one boy ant scoffed.

"Yeah, Dot, what do you know?' the other boy ant added in.

"Leave her alone!" Darla glared.

"You gonna make us?" the boy ants glared back at her.

Atticus stood in front of Darla protectively with a sharp glare to them. This caused for the boy ants to gulp. Darla smirked as she stood close by Atticus. Cherry walked over as the boy ants ran away like cowards.

"Hey, Cherry, we're just about to leave." Atticus told her.

"You be careful, okay?" Cherry replied. "I know I don't say it a lot, but I care about you."

"I care about you too, Cherry, and I will be careful and so will Flik and Darla." Atticus said.

"I know you will..." Cherry replied. "I care about you like Vapor Trail looked after Sky Stinger in the Wonderbolts Academy."

"Who?" Darla asked.

"I'll tell you later." Atticus said, but smiled to Cherry's comparison as those two ponies were true friends.

"Tell me now." Darla said.

"I'll tell you on the way." Atticus smiled.

"Fine..." Darla sighed.

Cherry then went with the other ants as Flik climbed up a dandelion to fly with it toward the city.

"Ready to fly?" Atticus asked Darla.

Darla nodded. Atticus then carried her on his back and flew with her across the cliff while Flik rode on the dandelion. This surprised Flik as he looked down and saw Atticus flying with Darla on his back.

"So, who are those two?" Darla asked.

"There were these rookie pegasi entering for the Wonderbolts Academy," Atticus explained to her. "They were best friends... Sky had a lot of brothers and sisters with little to no attention from his parents and Vapor was an only child with constant attention from her parents."

"Cool," Darla smiled. "Wait, did Rainbow Dash meet them?"

"Rainbow Dash and Twilight," Atticus explained. "It was a Friendship Emergency. I felt bad for Rainbow though, she had just got back from the academy and was looking forward to a break."

"Yikes." Darla gulped.

Atticus smiled to her.

"Can I go to Equestria with you guys again soon?" Darla pouted.

"I guarantee it." Atticus soothed.

"Wahoo!" Darla smiled.

Atticus chuckled to his little sister as they flew off to the city. Flik, unfortunately, crashed into a rock. Atticus and Darla winced from that.

"Is he okay?" Darla asked.

"I'm okay!" Flik muffled.

"Darla, this might take a while." Atticus told his little sister.

"I don't mind as long as I'm with you." Darla smiled up to her big brother.

Atticus then helped Flik off the rock and flew them to the city. The ants then waited behind as they went to the city to find warrior bugs.

"How hard it could find them be?" Darla asked.

"Don't worry, Darla, knowing me, this won't take any time at all." Atticus promised.

* * *

Unfortunately, it took most of the day as it was now night.

"I'm sorry, Darla..." Atticus yawned. "This took longer than I thought it would."

"It's okay," Darla said. "At least we got to the city."

Atticus soon landed. The two then stood up and took long stretches as they ended up in the city where Flik was amazed. Darla pouted.

"Aw, are you hungry?" Atticus cooed to his little sister.

"Yes." Darla nodded.

"Let's get something to eat..." Atticus said before looking around. "Any place to eat around here?"

"I don't think so." Darla frowned.

"I'm sure we'll find something, if not, I'll make you something, deal?" Atticus replied.

"Okay." Darla hugged him.

"Follow me." Flik said.

Darla and Atticus followed after Flik. A daddy long-leg spider walked over them as they approached the bug city.

"Wow." Darla smiled.

"It's like New York City, but with bugs." Atticus commented.

"Yeah." Darla nodded.

"Wow," Flik smiled at the sights. "The city."

"Sure is big." Darla said.

A few of the bugs bumped against the trio and glared to them.

"City folk." Darla smiled weakly.

"Let's try to stay out of their way." Atticus said.

A bee was beating up a fly and kicked him out of one place.

"Tough bugs!" Flik cheered.

"Let's go then." Darla said.

* * *

Flik, Atticus, and Darla then walked over to the bar that seemed to have tough bugs. There were many bugs inside having their meals and there even appeared to be a snail.

"How will we choose?" Darla asked.

"Pardon me, sir, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment," Flik tried to get attention. "We represent a colony of ants. We're looking for tough bugs, you know, mean bugs. Bugs that-"

No one seemed to be paying attention to him. Flik followed a bug as Darla and Atticus were about to catch up until a group of other bugs were sulking as they were fired from a flea which they found to be humiliating.

"Maybe that group can help us." Darla said.

"Fired by a flea, how humiliating." the stick bug whined.

"Let's face it, we stink." the ladybug commented.

"You're fired!" the pill bug twins said to each other.

"Oh, will you shut up?" the spider complained to them.

"Excuse me." Atticus spoke up.

The group then looked over to him.

"You're fired!" the pill bugs continued, annoying the spider even more.

"I'm guessing you all were fired from your jobs." Atticus said.

"You have no idea, kid..." the ladybug grumbled.

"Well, if you're interested, we could really use your help." Darla said.

"Help?" the spider asked. "What kind of help?"

"It's a long story, but these other ants really need some help," Atticus said. "There's grasshoppers!"

"And where they keep coming to the ants just for their food." Darla said.

"Dat's horrible!" the fat caterpillar pouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dears, but we're circus performers..." the butterfly said.

"Wait, what?" Darla asked.

"How are you all at acting?" Atticus added.

"I for one am quite brilliant!" the praying mantis bragged.

"And the rest of you?" Atticus smiled.

"Um... Well, I don't like to brag, but I suppose we could give it a try..." the ladybug said.

"I can coach you," Darla offered. "I used to be an actress."

"It's true." Atticus smiled.

"You, an actress?" the praying mantis replied.

"Allow me to help..." Darla smiled smugly. "I've been acting since I was four."

"Yeah, she was once a movie star." Atticus said.

The ex-circus bugs looked to the ants and to each other, wondering if this would be a good idea or not.

"Please." Darla begged.

"You should put on a show for us though, look brave and tough." Atticus suggested.

"Yeah, that would be awesome!" Darla agreed. "So, what do you say?"

There soon came two house flies in the bar who were looking for the male ladybug.

"They found us, and I don't think they're very happy." The ladybug said to his friends.

"You want my big brother to help fight them off?" Darla asked.

"Uh, he can try..." The ladybug replied.

"Atticus?" Darla signaled.

Atticus nodded and soon got ready.

* * *

The two flies landed near the ladybug. "Hello, girly bug~" they then mockingly greeted.

"Shoo, fly, don't bother me." The ladybug grumbled.

"You heard him." Atticus glared.

"Oh, you know who you should meet, our pal Thud." One fly smirked.

A muscular fly soon landed right behind Atticus.

"He's behind me, isn't he?" Atticus asked.

The two flies smirked.

"That's a yes," Atticus said. "One moment please while I beat him up."

"Who are you supposed to be, Atom Ant?" Thud glared to Atticus.

"You could say that." Atticus smirked.

Thud just laughed at him like he was nothing and reached out to beat him up. "You're next after this puny ant, Girly Bug." he then smirked towards ladybug.

"Great..." The ladybug said weakly as he sat with his friends.

Darla decided to watch this as she knew who would win.

"'Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home'." The two flies mocked the ladybug.

"Hey, leave him alone!" Darla glared.

"Shoo, kid, this don't concern you." One fly glared back.

Darla began to hate the flies more and more.

"Not so tough now are you?" One fly glared. "Alright clown, get up and fight like a girl."

The ladybug glared about that until they all looked over and saw Atticus handling Thud.

"That guy would've been perfect for our Robin Hood thing." The ladybug whispered to the other circus bugs.

"He sure would." The stick bug nodded.

* * *

Thud soon yelled out and ran away with the other two house flies.

"Now don't make me catch you bugging that ladybug again or I'll tear your wings off!" Atticus threatened after rough-handling them.

"You did it, Atticus!" Darla cheered.

"Eh, no biggie, are you okay?" Atticus smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just can't believe what jerks flies can be." Darla replied.

"Believe it." Atticus said.

The circus bugs now wondered what they could do now that they were fired.

"Do you think maybe they can act like warriors to help protect Ant Island?" Darla asked her big brother, feeling bad for the circus bugs.

"Sure they can; this could be like an act for them." Atticus said.

"Hey, Flik!" They both called to the venturing ant.

Flik turned to them, and Atticus and Darla soon told him about how the circus bugs could help Ant Island's condition against the grasshoppers. Only they told him that the circus bugs were warrior bugs.

" **YOU'RE PERFECT!** " Flik told the circus bugs before bowing to them. "O, Great Ones, we have been scouting for bugs with your exact talents."

"A talent scout." The butterfly/moth told the other bugs with her.

"My colony's in trouble, grasshoppers are coming," Flik continued. "We've been forced to prepare all this food."

 _'I'm sure they'll agree.'_ Darla thought to himself.

"Dinner theater." The praying mantis said.

"Food?" The caterpillar smiled.

"Please, will you help us?" Flik asked the bugs.

The circus bugs looked around before smiling to Flik.

"We'll take the job." The stick bug decided.

"Knew it." Darla smiled.

"Really?" Flik asked the other bugs out of surprise.

"You can all explain the details on the way." The stick bug said as he helped the others onto the large dung beetle's back to give them a ride.

"Let's get on our way." Atticus said.

"Okay, come on, everyone, break a leg." The black widow spider told the others.

"Whoa, you're vicious." Flik said to her.

Darla was about to say that was just an expression for good luck, but Atticus stopped her as that might ruin the guise, so she decided to change the subject. "So, who are you guys?" she then asked.

"Well, I'm Rosie, and this is Dim." The black widow spider said, introducing herself and the dung beetle who seemed to be simple and childish.

"Ooh." Darla smiled.

"Aw, you're such a cute little thing." Rosie smiled back to her.

"I'm Gypsy, and this is Manny." The butterfly/moth introduced with a smile to her and the praying mantis she was close with.

"Are you two a thing?" Darla smiled.

"Actually, yes," Gypsy smiled back. "We're very close, and even married."

"How romantic~" Darla smiled.

"So, uh, who are you guys?" Atticus tried to talk to the pill bugs.

The pill bugs spoke to him, but it was in a language he didn't understand.

"Sorry about them, but they only speak Hungarian." Rosie sighed since she knew how frustrated Atticus must've felt.

"Heh..." Atticus said nervously.

"Anyway, their names are Tuck and Roll." Rosie told Atticus and Darla.

"Um... Hi..." Atticus smiled nervously.

Tuck and Roll spoke to him, but it seemed to be nonsense.

"Uh..." Darla said.

"And, you guys are?" Atticus asked the other bugs.

"I'm Francis." The ladybug said.

"And I'm Slim." The stick bug added.

"I'm Heimlich, you have any food?" The caterpillar asked hungrily.

"Sorry, no food." Darla said.

"Aww..." Heimlich frowned.

* * *

Dim soon flew them out of the city and into Ant Island. Manny and Gypsy also flew since they had their own way of flying.

"I wonder how things are going back on Ant Island?" Darla said.

"Oh, they'll just be thrilled when we come back with these warrior bugs!" Flik beamed.


	4. Chapter 4

Under the hot sun, back on Ant Island, the ants resumed their harvesting business. This would be a lot more work though because they had to get even more food for the grasshoppers this time than what they had before, and where the heat was getting to them. One of the ants soon collapsed to the ground.

"Dr. Flora!" Princess Atta cried out in a panic.

"We've lost another one." Cherry said.

"This is insane." One ant named Thorny commented.

"Insane." Another ant named Cornelius added.

"There's just not enough food left on the island," Thorny said. "No way we could make double quota before Hopper comes."

"Well, we have to try Thorny," Princess Atta replied. "We don't have any choice."

"Yeah, I know." Thorny frowned.

Cherry decided to check on the others and saw Amber and Dot together.

* * *

"Hey, look who's playing look-out again," One ant boy glared up at the young ant princess. "Little Speck."

"Her name is _Dot_." Amber glared at the boy ant.

"Well, Spot and Ember, you guys still lookin' for Flik and those others?" The ant boy glared back.

"Forget it, you guys," The other ant boy added. "Those losers are never coming back."

Dot ignored the two and resumed looking through her telescope.

"Don't listen to them, Dot, tell me what you see." Amber told the young ant princess.

Dot soon saw Flik, Atticus, and Darla flying on a beetle. "It's Flik and your friends!" She then told Amber. " **THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT!** "

"What?!" The boy ants asked before rushing off to tell the rest of the colony.

"This is it!" Flik told the circus bugs. "This is Ant Island!"

"Hey, guys!" Amber smiled.

"Hey!" Flik, Atticus, and Darla smiled and waved back to Dot and Amber.

"They did it, they did it, they did it, yay!" Dot and Amber cheered happily. "They did it!"

The boy ants were soon impressed.

* * *

"At the rate these leaves are dropping, we're gonna need a miracle." Thorny said.

"That's right, we need a miracle." Cornelius added.

"I think it's coming." Cherry pointed to the sky.

Thorny and Cornelius soon saw what was coming.

" **RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!** " Cornelius panicked.

The ants of the colony soon scattered out of fright as they thought this was an invasion. The circus bugs soon landed and they all struck promotional poses.

"Ta-da!" Francis announced.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone to welcome them.

"Once again, our reputation precedes us." Manny sulked.

"Hey everybody, hey, we're back!" Flik told his hiding colony and they poked out to see him. "Hey guys! Hey! L-L-Look who's here with me."

"Anyone?" Darla asked. "Anyone at all?"

"FLIK! FLIK! FLIK, YOU'RE BACK!" Dot beamed as she rushed over to the older male ant's arms. "I knew you could do it."

"Darla." Amber smiled to her best friend as she joined Dot.

"Did we miss much?" Darla asked.

"Eh, let's just say it's a lot better now that you're back." Amber told her.

The circus bugs soon came out to meet Flik's ant colony, and where everyone was impressed.

"So, what are you supposed to be?" One of the young ants asked Slim.

"He's a stick, stupid," Another ant said. "You hit bugs with them."

"Well, that's an oversimplification." Slim chuckled to the young ants.

"He's right." Cherry smirked.

"Yeah, like this!" Francis added as he grabbed the stick bug.

"No, put me down!" Slim cried out before he was used as a weapon.

"Nice." Cherry smirked.

Tuck and Roll soon met Dr. Flora who looked amused and confused at the same time.

"Uh-oh, kids, he's kinda ticklish," Rosie warned the ant kids as they came near Dim. "Let's come on out, careful."

Only for the kids to not listen to her. Dim soon laughed and it scared away the ant kids as they should had listened to the black widow spider.

"Well, my boy, you came through," The Queen smiled proudly to Flik. "Aphie and I are very impressed."

"I think everyone is." Atticus said.

"You both did very good as well." The Queen smiled to Atticus and Darla.

"It was our pleasure to help, ma'am." Darla smiled back.

"Princess Atta!" Flik called out once he found the older ant princess and decided to introduce her to the 'warrior bugs' "Hey, hey guys, this is Princess Atta. She's the one who sent us to find you."

"It's true." Atticus smiled.

"Atta, Atta, do you see that really big bug over there?" Dot smiled up to her big sister.

"He looks absolutely ferocious." Mr. Soil commented.

"They're our ticket out of this mess." Thorny added.

"They came just in time." Dr. Flora said.

"And that's right." Cornelius added.

"So, Princess Atta, what do you think?" Flik smiled.

"No, no, no, no, wait," Princess Atta said nervously. "This was not supposed to happen."

'Sounds like she's having second thoughts.' Darla thought to herself.

Princess Atta whispered to The Ant Council.

"Mayday, mayday, we're losing the job." Slim whispered to Francis.

"We don't fight the grasshoppers." Princess Atta told the council.

"We don't, but they will." Thorny said.

"Bingo." Cornelius added.

Francis began to think of something until he got an idea. Darla and Atticus looked nervous for the circus bugs by the judgement from The Ant Council.

"Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages," Francis announced as he got onto Dim's back to get everybody's attention. "Our troupe here guarantees a performance like no other. Why, when your grasshopper friends get here, **WE ARE GONNA KNOCK... THEM... DEAD!** "

This then made the ants cheer in excitement and anticipation. Atticus and the others could already tell that was just an expression.

"Boy, these folks are sure hard up for entertainment." Slim said to Heimlich as they all waved to the ant colony.

* * *

Later on, there was soon going to be a show for the guests to welcome them into the colony.

"Wow, they sure know how to welcome warriors." Amber smiled.

"Great party." Darla agreed with her best friend.

Everyone was enjoying the party. There was even music from the ant colony.

"The children, and myself, have quickly put together a little presentation in honor of our guests," Mr. Soil said as the young ants approached him with a big leaf. "Dot, Reed, Daisy, Grub."

"Ooh, aren't they adorable?" Gypsy smiled to Manny. "Ooh, they're cute~"

Atticus had a feeling the younger ants would show a portrait of the future battle.

"The South Tunnel Elementary School second grade class would like to present you with this," The young female ant known as Daisy showed the visitors the leaf, which had a drawing. "A mural we have drawn of you bugs helping us fight the grasshoppers away."

This leaf was a drawing, but it wasn't one with the troupe performing to the grasshoppers. It was one with the troupe fighting off the grasshoppers, as if they were going through a rough battle. The troupe's happiness turned into shock.

"Oh, look at the beautiful colors of blood..." Rosie said, uneasily.

"We drew one of you dying because our teacher said it would be more dramatic." Dot smiled as she showed Heimlich who seemed to be cut in half which made the caterpillar rather sick to his stomach.

"That was interesting." Cherry said.

* * *

There soon seemed to be a play.

"I tell you a tale, of heroes so bold," Mr. Soil told the audience as he played a harp. "Who vanquished our grasshopper enemies of old."

The young ants soon came together to put on a show for their audience.

"Look, the last leaf has fallen." An ant kid pointed out as another one dressed like a leaf fell face-down to the ground.

"We are the grasshoppers, where's our food?!" A group of ants with masks commanded.

"Who will come to save us poor ants?!" One ant cried out distress.

" **WE ARE THE WARRIORS, HERE TO DEFEND YOU!** " A group of ants announced as the group who had come to their island to save them.

Slim shielded Heimlich's eyes while Manny comforted Gypsy.

* * *

 ** _One performance later..._**

"Die... Die... Die..." Dot told the audience before falling with the others.

Everyone else cheered for this only for Francis to suddenly faint.

"Thank you, thank you, oh, thank you." Mr. Soil smiled to the audience.

"Well, um, that was interesting." Darla gulped.

"They really think we can fight off those grasshoppers." Slim whispered nervously.

"Um, surprise?" Darla whispered back with a sheepish smile.

"I say we go." Francis suggested.

"No, please, don't." Amber whispered.

"Okay, honey, you're up." The Queen smiled to her older daughter.

"Oh..." Princess Atta blinked.

Flik took a blade of grass and made into like a megaphone.

"Thanks," Princess Atta told him before making an announcement. "First of all, I'd like to thank the warriors for helping us in our fight against the grasshoppers."

 _'I think now might be an good time to tell Flik.'_ Atticus thought to himself.

"Secondly, I would like to thank 'Flik' and his friends 'Atticus and Darla,' for their forthright thinking-" Princess Atta continued.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Flik said as he came to take over. "Oh, sure, we'd like to take credit for all this, but well, that wouldn't be right, because it was you, Princess Atta. You believed in us and you sent us on our quest."

Princess Atta smiled nervously to this. The circus bugs soon sent Rosie to Tell Flik.

"Now I know I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, and I hope that this will make up-" Flik continued.

The black widow spider whispered to the male ant.

"Not right now, Rosie, I'm making a speech," Flik told her before continuing. "Now I truly believe that these bugs are the answer to our-"

Rosie soon whispered a question to him.

"No, there's no circus around here," Flik whispered back to her before continuing his speech. "So, I-" He then suddenly stopped once he realized what the black widow spider had asked him and looked over to the circus bugs.

Francis juggled with some stones and did a finishing pose with his fellow circus bugs. Suddenly realizing that he got circus bugs instead of warriors, Flik felt time stand still around him and he began to panic internally.

"This is bad." Cherry whispered.

"Your Highness, the warriors have called for a secret meeting to plan for a circus-CIRCUMVENTING, the oncoming hordes, so that can trapeze-TRAP them with ease." Flik smiled nervously to the ant princess.

"Shouldn't I come too?" Princess Atta asked.

"No, no, classified in the DMZ, gotta go ASAP, you know strictly BYOB, bye." Flik smiled nervously before leaving.

"And we shall join them." Darla added, referring to herself, Atticus, Cherry, and Amber.

"BYOB...?" Princess Atta muttered suspiciously.

Flik soon rushed to where he could talk to the circus bugs in privacy.

* * *

Soon enough, they now reached a private place.

"Circus Bugs!" Flik said to the other insects. "How can you be circus bugs?!"

"Funny story." Darla smiled nervously.

"Wait, you knew about this?" Flik asked Darla.

"We both did." Atticus said.

"We didn't have anything to do with it though." Cherry replied, referring to both her and Amber since they were here while the others were gone.

"Are you kidding?!" Flik yelped. "Do you know what this is? This, my friends, is false advertising."

"What did you expect?! They got fired!" Darla defended.

"Did ya have to rub it in, kid?" Francis muttered.

"Well, sorry, but you know it's true." Darla replied.

They soon heard Princess Atta coming. Flik looked desperate as the circus bugs looked like that they wanted to leave, even trying to get squished by Dim's foot.

"Uh, Flik, the princess wants you." Cherry spoke up.

Flik soon stood up once the elder ant princess came toward him and the others.

"I really do think I should be part of this meeting, Flik." Princess Atta told him.

"Ah, Princess Atta, what a nice surprise." Flik smiled nervously.

"What brings you here?" Atticus added.

"I'd like to know what's going on here," Princess Atta replied. "I would like to speak with these so-called warriors."

"You can't, I mean, they're in the middle of a top secret meeting right now and they really should not be disturbed now," Flik told the princess nervously. "Right, guys?"

The circus bugs were then seen leaving. Seeing this caused the group, except Princess Atta, to panic.

"Could you just... Excuse me, please?" Flik smiled nervously before running after the circus bugs. " **WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, PLEASE DON'T GO!** "

"I'm not going anywhere!" Princess Atta said. "What is going on?" She soon got the grass blades out of the way to see no one.

Flik tried to beg the circus bugs not to leave, but they didn't seem interested in listening to him.

"Quick, he's losin' it." Francis told the other bugs.

"Please don't go!" Darla begged.

"You can't go!" Flik added. "We're desperate!"

"Really?" Slim deadpanned. "I couldn't tell!"

"Please, just help us give the ants confidence to fight the grasshoppers back!" Amber begged.

"Okay, you guys, it's time to put you down now," Slim told all of them before whispering to the others. "Please get them off me; they're cutting off circulation in my foot."

"I thought you guys would owe us one!" Darla glared. "Atticus didn't have to help you against that big fly, but he did!"

"Dang it... I hate to admit it, but she's right." Francis said.

"The colony really needs you guys," Cherry replied. "The least you can do is help out."

* * *

Flik soon went wide-eyed as he soon saw a nest with eggs and feathers and where he knew what that meant.

"Flik, are you okay?" Amber asked.

"RUN!" Flik panicked as he soon ran for his life.

"Boy, he runs fast for a little guy." Heimlich commented.

"Why did he suddenly want us to run?" Cherry asked.

Something soon landed right behind them all. Everyone then turned around to see what looked like, from this size, to be a giant bird.

"TWEET TWEET! TWEET TWEET!" Tuck and Roll panicked.

"That's right, small birds eat bugs!" Amber panicked.

"That's a small bird?" Darla asked with wide eyes.

Everyone soon ran away from the bird before it could eat them, and where the bird started chasing them.

* * *

Soon enough, the rest of the ant colony found out about the bird which panicked them all.

"FLIK!" Dot panicked as she held onto a dandelion petal.

"Dot!" The Queen panicked for her younger daughter.

The circus bugs soon saw Dot in trouble and saw that they had to help her, and where she started falling after the bird hit the flower's petal. Francis soon rushed to go and save Dot before it would be too late. Dot then landed in Francis's arms safely, but they fell near the crevice of the rock floor. Unfortunately for the ladybug, this broke one of his legs. The bird was right above the rock ground.

"I can't see!" The Queen cried out.

"Somebody do something!" Cornelius said.

The Council of Ants kept trying to keep an eye out for Dot, though they didn't have such luck. Princess Atta soon remembered the telescope that Flik had invented. The other circus bugs decided to help since there was trouble for both Dot and their ladybug friend.

"What do we do?!" Darla panicked.

"Yoo-hoo, Mr. Early Bird!" Heimlich called as Slim was balancing him up to distract the bird. "How about a nice tasty worm on a stick?"

"I'm going to snap, I'm going to snap!" Slim grunted.

The bird soon looked to the fat caterpillar and came toward him.

'She has taken the bait.' Cherry thought to herself.

Princess Atta watched all of this from the telescope.

"Let's go." Flik told the others before they soon got onto Dim to escape.

"FLIK, HELP!" Dot cried out.

They soon landed to get Dot and Francis. Rosie even used a web to help them all out.

"It's going to be okay, Dot." Flik soothed as he helped the little ant girl.

Tuck and Roll then went to help Francis, seeing a broken foot which needed a cast as soon as possible.

"I wonder how things are going with the bird?" Amber said.

"Ooh, Bye-Bye, Birdie~" Heimlich mocked as Slim slid through the cracks, but the caterpillar was too fat to slink through with him. "HELP, I'M STUCK! PULL ME DOWN! SCHNELL, SCHNELL, SCHNELL!"

"The caterpillar's using himself as live bait." Princess Atta told the others.

"How brave!" A member of the Council of Ants admired.

"Suck it in, man!" Slim begged Heimlich.

Heimlich soon took a deep breath and slipped in through the crack with him just in time before the bird could eat him. The bird soon got distracted by a certain butterfly.

"She's so pretty." Darla smiled up to Gypsy.

"She sure is." Amber smiled in agreement.

Gypsy soon used her charm and beauty to make the bird get away from the others. Of course, it worked.

* * *

Soon enough, the bird began to chase after Gypsy as a new prey.

"The coast is clear." Cherry said.

"This way." Atticus replied.

They were soon going over to a thorn bush which would eventually stop the bird from getting them. Francis soon woke up which wasn't a good thing. When he woke up, he soon yelped as he felt pain in his leg, and his wings closed, accidentally cutting Rosie's web. Tuck and Roll were still able to hold onto both the web and onto Francis. Flik held on as he still carried Dot in his arms. Unfortunately, his screams attracted the bird.

"Atticus, help!" Darla and Amber cried out.

"Yeah, you better, this is getting ugly." Cherry added with wide eyes.

Atticus soon flew and helped with getting them to the bush faster.

"The bird! The bird!" Princess Atta cried out. "Look out for the bird!"

"FLIK!" Dot added.

"Don't worry, I got this." Atticus told the others.

"Then fight off that bird!" Cherry told him.

"Won't have to." Atticus said as he pointed to the thorns.

The bird tried to get at them, grabbed onto the thorns, and soon flew away from the sharpness.

"Why didn't you fight it?!" Cherry asked. "The ants won't have to deal with it anymore!"

"I feel like it might come in handy for later." Atticus replied.

Cherry just looked annoyed.

* * *

Soon enough, there was a mysterious sound heard.

"What is that?" Rosie wondered.

"That, my friends, is the sound of applause." Manny replied.

They soon saw the ant colony had been applauding them.

"Applause..." Francis said weakly. "I'm in Heaven..."


	5. Chapter 5

The scene to cuts to a different place. Francis was resting in an actual flower bed and had a cast on his broken foot.

"Our Blueberry Troop salutes you bugs for rescuing our smallest member, Princess Dot, and as a tribute to Ms. Francis, we've changed our bandannas." The troop leader told the circus bugs.

The young ants turned around to show that their bandannas were now a light pink color with black spots like on a ladybug's back.

"We voted you our honorary den mother!" Dot added.

The young ants soon rushed over to him with smiles. Francis felt shocked by the young ants, but tried to hide anger of being confused for a girl yet again.

"Alright, girls, let's move your little keisters out of here now, your patient needs to rest, you know," Dr. Flora had the young ants leave Francis alone for right now. "Uh-huh. Come on."

 _'Whew.'_ Cherry thought to herself.

"Excuse me, Flik, can I talk to you for a second?" Princess Atta requested.

"Oh, sure." Flik said as he accidentally moved Francis's broken foot, making it slam on the flower bed which made the ladybug yowl in pain.

Atticus and the others soon winced. Flik and Princess Atta soon went to talk in private.

"Sorry, Francis." Darla said to the ladybug.

"Yeah, I'm sure Flik didn't mean to do that." Amber said.

"I guess so..." Francis replied. "So, I'm stuck here a while, and I'm a den mother... I guess it could be worse."

"Take it or leave it." Cherry said.

Everyone soon left so that Francis could get some bed rest, though it wouldn't last.

* * *

"Hopper's afraid of birds!" Flik announced as he suddenly came back.

"And I don't blame him." Francis shrugged.

"Flik, Francis needs rest." Darla told the male ant.

"Oh, oh, this is perfect!" Flik smiled. "We can get rid of Hopper, and no one has to know I messed up! You just keep pretending you're warriors!"

"Whoa, Flik, honey, we are not about to fight grasshoppers, okay?" Rosie said to him.

"You'll be gone before the grasshoppers ever arrive, it'll be easy," Flik replied. "Here's what we do-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Cherry spoke up.

"Not another word," Manny added as he refused to be apart of this. "I don't know what you're concocting in that little ant brain of yours, but we'll have no part of it."

"Excuse me?" A young ant asked as he came with his friend. "Can we get the warriors' autographs?"

Hearing those words caught the circus bugs attention. The ant kids continued to cry until the ladybug caught their attention again.

"Eh?" Francis smiled as he soon juggled three water balls before throwing them in the air and gulping them down. "Ta-da!"

This was enough to make the young ants happy.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, back with the others...**_

There was construction of what Cherry dubbed as The Trojan Bird. There were branches connected to make a bird skeleton as Dim flew overhead with other ants to give advice and supervise, and where it was all working perfectly. The construction took a while, but it would be all worth it in the end. There was painting to make the bird look real and even ants inside to flap wings up and down by coordination.

The younger ants were with Francis to occupy their time while the adult ants were busy. They were soon all playing Poker. It looked like Francis had won, but one of Dot's friends had instead, but all and all, everything was alright. Leaves were used for the bird's feathers so they wouldn't need actual feathers, thankfully.

"Look, I'm a beautiful butterfly!" Heimlich smiled as he played with the leaves, using them as wings.

"Sure." Chery smirked.

"There you go," Princess Atta told the other ants as she walked by. "Good job, fellas. Keep up the good work."

Flik noticed the ant princess and soon smiled to her, seeming lost in another world. Princess Atta noticed Flik and smiled back.

"So, when do I find out about The Secret Life of Bees?" Darla joked.

"Very funny, but that has nothing to do with bees." Cherry told her.

"You never know." Amber smirked.

"Still doesn't have anything to do with bees," Cherry rolled her eyes as she knew about that story from her mother. "Anyway, let's keep going."

Eventually, it took a lot of trial and error, but soon enough, the bird was finally finished. Seeing this made the ant colony cheer and look very excited. Everyone looked like they were ready for the grasshoppers.

* * *

Later that night, everyone decided to hold a night festival and celebration, and where to once they didn't need to worry about gathering enough food for the grasshoppers.

"TO THE BIRD!" An ant proclaimed.

"To the bird!" The other ants replied as they celebrated.

Gypsy and Manny smiled as they were in a conga line with the ants, and where everyone was having a great time.

"Get down, Rolly Boys." Dr. Flora giggled as she danced with Tuck and Roll stacked on top of each other.

"How low can you go?" Slim chuckled as he was used as a Limbo Stick while Princess Atta went underneath him.

"And that's how my twelfth husband died," Rosie said to another ant. "So, now I'm a widow, I mean, I've always been a black widow, but now I'm a black widow... Widow."

Dim played with some young ants and flung them against a web that Rosie had made.

"Okay, this was a pretty good part of the adventure," Darla smiled. "Too bad I can't write letters to Princess Celestia."

Atticus soon showed her an ant-sized quill with some paper.

"Ooh..." Darla said before she decided to write on it to write about her experience in a bug's life.

"Maybe you could send one to Serena too and the other Sailor Scouts?" Amber suggested.

"Hey, good idea." Darla smiled.

Everything seemed to go well.

* * *

"Thorny, any sign of grasshoppers?" Atticus asked one ant.

"Let me check." Thorny said as he brought out a glowing mushroom.

The other ants raised their mushrooms high, but there was no frantic panic.

"No, not yet, but we'll be ready for 'em." Thorny smiled.

"That's right." Atticus smiled back.

"Blueberries... Dismissed!" Francis told the Blueberry Scouts, almost like a drill sargent.

The young ants soon ran off as they were free to do whatever now.

"And, uh, quit beatin' the boys up." Francis then weakly added.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" Amber smiled.

"They sure do." Francis smiled back softly.

"Hey, how ya guys doin', huh?" Flik smiled as he passed by the others while going around the island. "Some party, huh? Is that grain dip fresh or what?" He soon decided to whisper to the Circus Bugs.

"Okay, I've told everyone you'll be stationed deep in the command bunker. Party quiets down, I sneak you out of the back way, and then you're outta here forever."

The Circus Bugs looked to Flik, but they seemed forlorn.

"Dim don't wanna go." The dung beetle frowned.

Flik frowned as he didn't expect that.

"Well, if Dim stays, he's gonna need me here, and he's not fully trained," Rosie said. "I mean house trained."

"I, uh... I kinda promised the Blueberries I'd teach 'em... Canasta." Francis added.

"It seems we've been hooked for an extended engagement." Gypsy told Flik.

"So, does that mean your going to stay permanently?" Darla smiled at them.

"Um, well, I don't know about forever, but... Uh... Just a little longer...?" Slim smiled back sheepishly.

"Close enough." Cherry said.

"Thank you for understanding." Slim told her.

"Something about you reminds me of Delbert Doppler from Treasure Planet." Cherry muttered to herself quietly.

Tuck and Roll kissed both cheeks of everyone to thank them for letting them visit Ant Island. Darla was happy that the circus bugs were happy to stay a little longer.

"Will you look at this colony? Will you just look at this colony?" Princess Atta asked as she came by. "I hardly even recognize it!"

"Haha, I feel 70 again!" Cornelius laughed as he did some push-ups.

Cherry rolled her eyes slightly, shaking her head with a smirk towards Thorny.

"Work on that ab, baby." The Queen chuckled with a few other ants.

"And I have you bugs to thank for it, so... Thank you," Princess Atta said to the group. "And you guys too."

"You're welcome, Princess." Darla smiled to the older ant princess.

"And, uh, thank you for finding them, Flik." Princess Atta gently added.

Suddenly, the two got their antennas hooked together. This made them both smile nervously. The others could sense somewhat of a connection between Flik and Princess Atta, and where they couldn't help but find it cute.

"I think I'll go check on the bird..." Princess Atta smiled nervously and walked off one way.

"Wrong way, Princess." Cherry told her.

"Oh, I knew that... Bird's this way..." Princess Atta smiled nervously as she walked the other way.

"Yeah, the bird's that way," Flik smiled nervously while laughing nervously before noticing the look in the others' eyes. "What?"

* * *

Meanwhile, one ant looked through the fields, but saw signals from the others which worried him. "Jiminy H. Cricket!" he panicked before blowing a horn to alert the rest of the colony.

Everyone else heard the alarm and began to become instantly nervous and in a panic because that meant that the grasshoppers were coming.

"But the last leaf hasn't fallen yet!" Darla informed them.

"Battle stations, everyone, this is not a drill, come on!" Princess Atta told the rest of the colony. "Come on, everyone, you know your jobs!"

"This can't be right..." Amber said to herself, logically.

Something soon came from behind Princess Atta. It was a light. Princess Atta gasped at that and soon dodged out of the way in time before getting run over. It wasn't the grasshoppers: it looked like a train pulled by millipedes with a certain flea as the driver.

"Whoa!" Darla yelped.

The circus bugs soon panicked at the sight of the flea.

"Greetings and salutations. Ooh-ba-pa-do, and how do ya do?" The flea smirked to the ant colony before showing a poster of the bugs in question. "I am the great PT FLEA! I'm in need of your assis-oh, let's just cut to the chase. Look, I've been goin' from anthill to anthill. I'm looking for a bunch of circus performers. Have you seen 'em?"

Seeing the poster caused the group to panic.

"Wait a second, ain't that Staff Sergeant Slim?" Cornelius asked as he looked at the poster.

"Nope, no, no, no," Flik smiled nervously as he tried to cover up the poster. "I'm sorry, but uh, no one has seen anyone like that around here."

"Nope, not at all." Amber added.

"So, you should probably get going..." Darla added.

Two fireflies soon saw a leaf, and saw feet underneath it.

PT soon hopped off of the train and removed the leaf to see the circus bugs. "Ah, guys, I've been looking all over for you. Flaming Death is a huge hit." he then smiled to them, ignoring their nervousness.

The colony soon walked around the train.

"I'm serious, word of mouth got around," PT told the circus bugs, ignoring them as they tried to shush him. "The next day, there was line of flies outside the tent, went on forever. It must've been a foot long. So, I've figured it out, you guys burn me twice a night, I take a day off to heal, and then we do it all over again. We'll be the top circus act in the business."

"You mean you're not warriors?" Princess Atta frowned at the circus bugs, feeling betrayed.

"Are you kiddin'?" PT turned to her. "These guys are the lousiest circus bugs you've ever seen, and they're gonna make me rich!"

"Another greedy ringmaster..." Cherry and Atticus droned to each other.

'At least it can't get worse.' Darla thought to herself.

"You mean to tell me that our entire defensive strategy, **WAS CONCOCTED BY CLOWNS?!** " Thorny glared.

"Heyheyheyhey, we really thought Flik and those guys's idea was gonna work." Francis replied, pointing to Flik, Cherry, Atticus, Amber, and Darla, which indeed made it worse.

Everyone else then gasped and turned around to them.

"Oops." Francis then muttered.

"Gee, thanks for pointing at us." Cherry muttered at the male ladybug.

"Tell me this isn't true." Princess Atta demanded to the others.

"No, y-you d-don't-" Flik tried to explain.

"This couldn't have happened at an inopportune time," Mr. Soil said, nervously. "The last leaf is about to fall."

Atticus and the others did find this a horrible time that PT had come, revealing their warrior bugs were really circus bugs.

"We haven't collected any food for the grasshoppers." Dr. Flora frowned.

"If Hopper finds out what we almost did-" Thorny began to panic.

"Hopper is not going to find out," The Queen interrupted before she came into the scene. "We're going to hide all this and pretend it never happened," she then looked over to the circus bugs. "You bugs were never here, so I suggest you all leave."

"What about the bird?" Darla spoke up. "The bird will work."

"I never thought I'd see the day when an ant would put herself before the rest of the colony." The Queen glared.

"What are you talking about?" Amber glared back, though only to defend her friend. "Darla would never be selfless!"

"The point is, guys, you all lied to us." The Queen replied.

"We only lied because this was the only way to give you all the courage to finally stand up against those grasshoppers!" Atticus told the ant colony.

"But you still lied to us!" Princess Atta replied.

"I'm not sure who's right in this argument." Cherry whispered to Darla and Amber.

"Both are right." Amber whispered back.

"You lied, guys, you lied to her, you lied to the colony," Princess Atta told Flik and the others. "You lied to me, and like an idiot, I believed you."

"But w-we were just afraid that if you knew we'd gotten circus bugs..." Flik tried to explain, but it was just very hard and depressing. "We just wanted to make a difference."

"I want you guys to leave, and this time... Don't come back..." Princess Atta told all of them.

This caused the colony to gasp.

"We're **BANISHED?!** " Cherry's eyes widened.

"Well, I didn't see that coming." Darla said.

"Tough crowd..." PT commented before making his millipedes drive them off.

* * *

Cherry, Atticus, Darla, and Amber were on the train to the circus together, leaving the ant colony. Dot tried get to the group, not wanting them to go.

"This feels worse than being turned into a bug." Darla said to her big brother.

"Maybe we shouldn't have lied." Cherry said.

"I don't like lying..." Atticus admitted.

"Yeah, 'cuz you suck at it." Cherry smirked, but she soon saw that now wasn't a good time.


	6. Chapter 6

The ride continued on, nothing could seem to cheer anyone else up.

"Uh, I hear that your mom's friend Queen Novo has a niece going to the School of Friendship in Equestria...?" Cherry smiled nervously to Atticus who looked down in the dumps. "They'll get to meet another Hippogriff since that terror of The Storm King and Tempest Shadow and Thunder Cloud?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's nice." Atticus said.

Cherry sighed. "Who am I kidding?"

The circus bugs could tell how much this was affecting the group.

"Don't worry, guys," Heimlich comforted. "Circus life isn't that bad."

"Really?" Darla asked.

"Yes, you guys can be part of our act." Slim offered.

Cherry and Atticus looked to each other before sulking, almost together like siblings since they've been together so long. "Pass..." they then droned as they looked like they didn't care anymore, matching the atmosphere of the outside world.

"Here, like this." Francis said as he then slapped Slim, causing him to spin around and land in the ladybug's arms.

Flik even looked unfazed. Heimlich, Francis, and Slim did a pose together to be funny.

"Slapstick, get it, I'm a walking stick...?" Slim smiled nervously before sighing and gave up. "Ah... Never mind..."

"You listen to me, my boy, I've made a living out of being a failure, and you sir, are not a failure." Manny advised like a father figure.

"Oh, Flik, you've had some good ideas." Rosie soothed.

Darla and Amber frowned to Flik, Cherry, and Atticus, wishing there was something they could do to help. They soon heard someone coming.

"FLIK!" A voice called out.

"Dot?" Flik wondered.

"Flik, wait!" Dot cried out as she seemed to be flying. "Wait!"

"Dot's flying!" Darla smiled.

"Ants can fly?" Cherry asked as she didn't know that.

"What're you doing here?" Flik asked as he helped Dot since she looked wore out from flying.

"You have to go back..." Dot panted. "Hopper into the anthill, and his gang's eating everything."

This caused everyone to gasp.

"And I heard a grasshopper say that when they're finished, Hopper's gonna squish my mom!" Dot then added.

This made everyone gasp again out of horror for the little ant princess.

"Oh, no, not The Queen!" Heimlich cried out.

"We have to do something!" Darla added.

"How?" Francis asked.

"Come on, you guys, think!" Gypsy said before she suddenly had an idea herself. "I know! The bird!"

"Yes... Of course..." Manny agreed.

"That will work." Amber smiled.

"The bird, that's brilliant." Slim nodded.

"Yeah!" Heimlich agreed.

"The bird won't work." Flik sulked.

"What are you talking about?" Francis asked Flik. "It was your idea."

"Come on, Flik." Amber said.

"But you said that everything-" Dot tried to add.

"Forget everything I ever told you, alright Dot?" Flik sighed to the young ant princess. "Let's face it. The colony's right. I just make things worse. That bird is a guaranteed failure... Just like me."

"No, it's not, and neither are you." Amber said.

"Oh, yeah?" Flik replied. "Show me one thing I've done right."

Everyone looked to each other.

"Us." Dim said.

"Dim is right, my boy," Manny nodded. "You have rekindled the long-dormant embers of purpose in our lives."

"And if it wasn't for you, Francis would've never gotten in touch with his feminine side." Slim added about the ladybug.

Francis looked like he was about to punch Slim. "Oh, yeah?!" he then glared at the stick bug, but soon stopped himself. "You know what? You're right."

Darla was happy that the circus bugs were trying to cheer up Flik.

"Lieutenant Gypsy reporting for duty." The butterfly spoke up.

"Kid, say the word and we'll follow you into battle." Francis added.

"We believe in you, my boy." Manny said.

"Flik... Please..." Dot begged.

Flik looked to all of them, but he still didn't feel any better, much to everyone else's dismay. Dot looked to him, but soon got an idea and flew away for a brief moment. She soon came back with a rock. Darla and Amber looked curious and hoped that would work. Flik soon turned around to see the rock.

"Pretend it's a seed, okay?" Dot told him.

The sun seemed to shine brighter as Flik now smiled and felt better. "Thanks, Dot."

Dot smiled back and then hugged him.

"Hey, what's with the rock?" Francis whispered.

"Must be an ant thing." Slim whispered back.

"Maybe." Cherry said.

"All right," Flik said once he felt motivated again. "Let's do it."

"What do we do first?" Amber asked.

"I think I have an idea." Cherry said as she looked towards PT Flea. She began to whisper her plan to the others.

"Wow, Cherry, that's so mature of you." Atticus smiled.

"Just say I'm awesome and we're even." Cherry smirked.

Atticus simply rolled his eyes.

"Say it, saaay it~" Cherry smirked.

"Fine..." Atticus smirked back. " _I'm_ awesome."

"Hey, that wasn't the deal!" Cherry glared.

Atticus chuckled and went to handle the flea.

* * *

"Hey, PT, look, money!" Atticus told the flea as he pointed right behind him.

"WHERE?!" PT gasped and looked around.

Rosie was soon seen and was soon using her webbing to trap him. Flik watched as the black widow spider then flung her web at the flea.

"Aaaaugh!" PT cried out of defeat.

"Shh..." Cherry shushed PT as she used some web to cover his mouth. "Don't say one word."

"What's going on?!" PT muffled. "Where's the money?!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't hear you~" Cherry mocked as they shut him out.

PT began to glare at her.

"Buh-Bye~" Cherry said as they stuck him in his own animal cracker box of a train.

PT yelled out, but he was shut out by the others so they could continue their adventure.

* * *

"ALRIGHT!" One grasshopper yelled to the ant colony like a slave driver. "GET MOVING!"

"How's it going?" Cherry whispered to the others.

"They're rounding everyone up." Flik whispered back.

They soon felt a light shine on them. Cherry let out a muffled squeak which was muffled since Atticus covered her mouth.

"Hey, turn your butt off." Francis told the fireflies.

The firefly then turned his light off.

"Whew." Cherry muffled.

The others soon found the ant colony as it had been reduced into slavery. The fireflies soon found PT, and they soon decided to let him suffer, even after he begged to be let out and bribed to pay them.

"Oh, no, they've finished collecting the food!" Flik gasped.

"That's bad." Darla said.

"We've got to get the Queen now," Flik told them as they hid. "Once she's safe, we move on Gypsy's signal."

"Fair enough." Amber agreed while the others nodded.

"This way." Flik said as he took the lead to somewhere he knew would be a good place to hide.

The younger ants were soon seen and they panicked until they saw that Flik had come to see them.

"Hello, kids, ready to make some grasshoppers cry?" Flik smiled.

"It's payback time," Dot added bravely. "Blueberry Style!"

"Blueberries Rock!" One of the younger ants smiled.

"Let's do this thing!" Amber cheered.

The rest of the Blueberry Scouts soon also cheered.

* * *

In the center of Ant Island, the grasshoppers began to enjoy the food that the ants got for them. The Queen looked anxious because she would soon be squashed by Hopper, but luckily for her, she would be saved eventually. There was then a drum roll and some fanfare heard which interrupted the feast.

"LADIES AND GENTLEBUGS! LARVAE OF ALL STAGES!" Darla's voice announced. "RUB YOUR LEGS TOGETHER FOR THE WORLD'S GREATEST... BUG... CIRCUS!"

The circus bugs soon arrived right on their cue.

"Wait a minute!" Hopper's voice suddenly shouted.

This startled everyone instantly.

"I think I'm going to wet myself." Heimlich whispered.

"Steady." Francis whispered back to him.

"What's going on here?" Hopper demanded.

"Uh..." Princess Atta said, unsure of what to say.

"Ah, yes, we were invited by Princess Atta as a surprise for your arrival." Slim covered up.

Hopper narrowed his eyes. "Squish 'em." he then commanded his other grasshoppers.

"Quick, send out the twins." Cherry whispered to Dim.

Dim nervously backed away, bumping into the circus cannon and shooting out Tuck and Roll. The two pill bugs landed in front of Hopper. Hopper looked stern and annoyed as the Hungarian twins began an act before they soon started to argue and slapped each other like in a comedy and which amused the grasshoppers.

"Now that's funny," Hopper even chuckled. "I guess we could use a little entertainment, looks like you did something right for once, princess."

Princess Atta merely smiled nervously in response.

It was soon Slim's turn. "On with the show." The stick bug introduced.

Rosie had her whip and she lashed at Dim as he bounced around in a circle around Rosie, with Darla, Amber, Tuck, and Roll on his back. Flik, Cherry, Atticus, and the Blueberry Scouts snuck up into a nearby tree while the grasshoppers watched the circus, and which was the perfect distraction.

* * *

"Great idea, Cherry." Atticus smiled quietly.

"Thanks." Cherry nodded.

They soon arrive at their bird. Heimlich soon acted like a baby to amuse some of the grasshoppers.

"Pie?" Francis smirked. "Should I give it to him?"

The grasshoppers agreed to give the pie to Heimlich. Francis smirked and soon threw the pie in Heimlich's face. The pie seemed to splash everywhere, even covering a few of the other bugs. This made everyone cheer as that was rather fun.

"Thank you, gentlemen. Always an intellectual treat, Slim said as he took his turn by juggling berries. "Say, how many roaches does it take to screw in a light bulb? Can't tell. As soon as the light goes on, they scatter."

Everyone soon laughed at the joke. Princess Atta looked around and soon saw Flik and the others climbing up the tree where the bird was.

"Almost there." Flik told Cherry and Atticus.

"This is going to be fun." Cherry smirked.

"Great show, isn't it?" Amber chuckled to the grasshoppers.

"And now, for a feat of magic from our very own Manto the Magnificent." Darla added.

The praying mantis magician soon came out to preform a magic trick.

 _'Going according as planned.'_ Darla thought to herself.

"From the most mysterious regions of uncharted Asia, I give you the Chinese cabinet of Metamorphosis," Manny said to the audience as Cherry, Atticus, Flik, and The Blueberry Scouts rushed to the constructed bird to scare off the grasshoppers for good. "Utilizing psychic vibrations, I shall select a perfect volunteer."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, pick me," Molt, who was Hopper's brother, begged. "Come on. I'm asking you with my brain."

"Aha!" Manny soon came to the Queen of the Ants. "Why, your Majesty."

"Me?" The Ant Queen smiled.

Thumper snarled at Manny, startling him.

"No, no, Thumper, down," Hopper scolded the feral grasshopper before he soon laughed at his own joke. "Let her go. Maybe, he'll saw her in half."

"As you ascend the dung beetle to the unknown," Manny said as Dim helped Queen into the box and left the stage. "Put your trust in the mystery that are beyond mere mortal comprehension..."

"Ooh, this is gonna be good." Hopper smirked.

* * *

"Blueberries, ready?" Cherry asked.

"Ready!" The Scouts replied.

"Ready!" Dot added, accidentally into the megaphone.

"Shh!" Atticus shushed.

* * *

"I call upon the Ancient Szechuan spirits to inhabit the body of our volunteer." Manny said as the box was spun around.

Little did the grasshoppers know, The Queen was hiding in Dim's wings as he took her out to safety away from the grasshoppers, and where the plan was going great.

"Transformation... Transformation! TRANSFORMATION!" Manny signaled.

This seemed to make some clouds move strangely in the sky.

"Not now." Dr. Flora whispered.

"If it rains, that bird'll get ripped to shreds." Cornelius said.

"Shh!" Thorny shushed.

"Now we just have to wait for Gypsy to give the signal." Atticus whispered.

"And now... Insectous Transformatus!" Manny commanded through magic words.

The box started moving until finally, something burst from the box. It was Gypsy. She revealed her wings, shocking the grasshoppers.

"Pretty..." Molt commented.

The grasshoppers applauded as Gypsy and Manny bowed. Gypsy's wings then gave out the signal for the others.

"That's the signal," Flik told the others. "That's the signal!"

"Blueberry Scouts, battle stations." Cherry commanded like a General.

The Blueberry Scouts soon went a rock rolling down to where it would release the bird.

"This is it, girls, get ready to roll." Flik told the girls.

The rock rolled down to launch the bird, but it seemed to be stuck.

"What is going on?" Atticus groaned before going to check it out and he soon saw what was happening. "Are you serious?" Atticus groaned before moving the stick and the rock.

"More! More! More! More! More!" The grasshoppers begged.

"WAIT!" Hopper shouted suddenly. "Where is she?"

Manny began to stammer, trying to find something to say.

"I'm sorry, but a magician never reveals his secrets." Gypsy told the grasshoppers.

"It's very true, Hoppy. I mean, where would the mystery be if we all knew how it was-" Molt was about to say until his brother gave him a look. "Shutting up..."

"Here we go!" Cherry called out.

"I said **WHERE IS SHE?!** " Hopper demanded from the circus bugs.

Darla and Amber smiled nervously. They soon saw their bird coming.

* * *

"The fear will be strong in these ones." Atticus commented.

"I am your father," Cherry added before smirking innocently. "I've always wanted to say that."

Dot soon made the bird sounds in the microphone.

"Aaaaugh!" Hopper screamed. "BIRD! IT'S A BIRD!"

The grasshoppers screamed out and panicked from the bird that was a fake, but it was enough to fool them.

 _'Going according as planned.'_ Darla thought to herself.

The two fireflies shined their lights into the air like spotlights as the bird flew around the commotion. Darla and Amber couldn't help but laugh at Hopper being scared out of his wits from the bird until they then decided to act scared. Of course, Darla was very good at acting, so she sounded like she was really scared. Atticus looked down, trying to resist not saving her, since it was his instinct as a big brother.

"Don't let it get me!" Hopper panicked and his behind his brother. "Don't let it get me!"

Slim soon brought out a boysenberry to make it look like the bird got his eye. The grasshoppers panicked even more as they saw that, thinking that he was bleeding.

"Up, down, up, down, up, down, and turn." Dot coached her fellow Blueberry Scouts.

They soon turned to the left.

"My eye... Help me..." Slim moaned like he was on the verge of death.

Hopper screamed while Molt looked like he was going to throw up.

Heimlich appeared to be headless which horrified Hopper before running off, and the fat caterpillar popped his head out and licked his lips. "Mm, boysenberry!"

Flik soon smiled at how great it was working, only to panic as he was what they were heading for.

"Go up, go up, GO UP!" Cherry panicked.

* * *

It was too late, the bird soon crashed into the train, but this had freed PT at the worst time.

"Ah... The pain..." Manny moaned as he was on the ground in pretend agony.

"There goes my magic act," PT frowned before he soon grabbed a match and lit it. "FLAMING GAS!"

"No, PT!" Slim panicked.

"We have to stop him!" Amber added.

PT soon lit the match on the bird, catching it instantly on fire. Amber soon tackled the flea down to the ground.

"Amber!" Darla gasped in surprise to see her best friend doing such a violent act.

"You idiot!" Amber glared at the flea. "Do you realize what you've done?!"

"Hey, hey, take it easy, kid, I was trying to save you guys!" PT glared back since he thought the bird was real.

Amber soon whispered to PT about the bird.

"IT'S A FAKE BIRD?!" PT asked.

"Please tell me no one else heard that." Amber groaned and face-palmed.

Unfortunately, Hopper _did_ hear that.

* * *

"Atticus..." Cherry gasped and panted. "Do you have any powers to put this fire out?!"

"Yes, my super-breath." Atticus said.

"That's nice..." Cherry smiled before yelling. "SO, **WHY AREN'T YOU USING IT?!** "

Atticus soon took a deep breath and blew out the fire. Cherry coughed a bit from the smoke. Unfortunately, Atticus had blown a little too hard which unattatched the bird from its support vine.

"Uh, Atticus?" Cherry asked. "I think you overdid it."

"Oh, crud..." Atticus said.

"Great job..." Cherry smirked. "Now we can activate the parachutes."

"We didn't install parachutes?" Atticus said to her.

"Oh, well, I guess that was just me then!" Cherry said before jumping out with her own parachute.

" **CHERRY?!** " Atticus called out.

"Geronimo!" Cherry replied.

"CHERRY!" Atticus called out before sighing. "Ugh... What am I gonna do with her?"

"Heheheh..." Cherry snickered slightly as she escaped with her parachute only for it to rip. "What the?! WHY?!" she then yelped at her unfortunate event. "I feel like I'm in a Lemony Snickett novel..."

"Okay, everyone out, and hurry!" Flik told the other Blueberry Scouts.

The Blueberry Scouts soon rushed out.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where's Dot?" Princess Atta asked weakly as she coughed. "Has anyone seen Dot?!"

Dot soon rushed out of the bird only to be stopped by Hopper as he grabbed a hold of her. " **WHOSE IDEA WAS _THIS_ , HUH?!**" he then glared at the young ant princess. He soon looked at Princess Atta.

The older ant princess gasped from his gaze.

"Was it yours, Princess?" Hopper glared.

"Get behind me, girls." Princess Atta told the Blueberry Scouts.

"Leave her alone, Hopper!" Flik's voice soon called out. "The bird was my idea... I'm the one you want."

Hopper soon snapped his fingers, signaling the violent grasshopper. Thumper snarled and soon attacked Flik when Hopper signaled him. Atticus came to Darla and Amber and soon came to protect them.

Cherry struggled to get down since her parachute got caught, and when she got unstuck, she soon landed by them, but she stood back up like nothing happened. "Uh, hey, guys." She then said.

"Cherry, glad you could drop in." Atticus said.

Cherry rolled her eyes and did a rimshot gesture. Hopper soon watched as Flik was beaten up horribly by Thumper.

"STOP IT!" Darla glared as she tried to go and stop it.

"Please!" Amber begged.

"Where do you get the gall to do this to me?" Hopper sneered at the inventing ant.

"You were..." Flik struggled as he tried to stand up. "You were gonna squish the queen."

The ants gasped as they turned to Queen.

"It's true." Dot added.

"I hate it when someone gives away the ending." Hopper commented before allowing Thumper to kick Flik.

"Flik." Amber frowned.

Flik soon managed to stand up, but was still a bit weak. "Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers," he then uttered out to the big bad Hopper. "I've seen these ants do great things, and year after year, they somehow manage to pick food for themselves, and you. S-So who is the weaker species? Ants don't serve grasshoppers. It's you who need us."

Hearing this caused the ants start muttering to each other.

"We're a lot stronger than you say we are, and you know it... Don't you?" Flik soon concluded much to Hopper's own shock.

Hopper soon punched Flik before getting ready to squish him.

"Atticus, why aren't you doing something?!" Cherry cried out.

"Don't worry, Cherry, karma will get to Hopper soon." Atticus promised her.

Princess Atta soon rushed out to protect Flik.

"Well, Princess..." Hopper chuckled.

"Ahem." Cherry smirked as she soon saw the other ants looking firm.

Hopper soon looked over to the other ants and they looked majorly angry and fed up with him. "YOU ANTS, STAY BACK!" he then demanded.

However, the ants did not move and kept glaring at the grasshoppers for all of the years of abuse.

"Oh, this was such a bad idea..." Molt muttered nervously.

"This is going to be so entertaining." Cherry smirked.

"Can I be scared of her now?" Amber asked about Cherry.

"I think we all are by now." Darla said to her best friend.

"You see, Hopper, nature has a certain order," Princess Atta soon stood up against Hopper with a glare. "The ants pick the food, the ants keep the food, and the grasshoppers leave."

* * *

Ants soon charged at the grasshoppers. The grasshoppers seemed to flee away from the angry ants.

"I'm so proud of you, Flik." Princess Atta smiled as she helped Flik up to his feet.

Dot was even part of the charging army.

"CHARGE-A!" Tuck and Roll even joined in.

" **WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!** " Hopper demanded. " **THEY'RE JUST ANTS!** "

The Hungarian pill bugs soon knocked Hopper down and the rest of the colony trampled over him. Thumper soon came at Dot.

"NO!" Dot cried out and then punched Thumper, showing that she wasn't afraid of him anymore. "Bad grasshopper! Bad grasshopper! Go home!"

Thumper pouted, but soon roared again. The Blueberry Scouts then came to help Dot, but what sent the savage grasshopper away was Dim who roared like a beast, scaring him away.

"That'll show him." Darla smirked.

"Yeah!" Dot smiled as she high-fived the rhino beetle.

"To the cannon!" Flik proclaimed.

Everyone soon carried Hopper to the cannon.

"The the cannon!" The ants cheered.

"BLAST OFF!" Cherry called out.

The percussion tarantula played a drum roll as Manny and Gypsy gestured for Dim. Dim landed on the offering stone and waved to Hopper as he giggled.

"Happy landings, Hopper." Flik seemed to smirk.

"This'll be fun to watch." Cherry smirked.

"Uh, did anyone else hear that?" Amber asked.

Everyone looked around and much to their horror, there were dark clouds and rain drops were coming.

" **RAAAAAIN!** " Flik panicked.

"Run!" Darla added.

* * *

Due to being bugs, the raindrops were huge and the storm was almost deathly, so everyone ran, even Cherry, Atticus, Darla, and Amber. Some of the ants ran for the ant hill as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed and which were bad signs. Atticus saw the rain coming closer, so he let Darla and Amber go in before him.

"FLIK!" Princess Atta soon called out.

Atticus soon looked to see where Flik was. Francis was joined by Dim, who had Rosie, Tuck and Roll on his back, and while carrying Heimlich.

"Wait for me!" Atticus told them so he could find Flik with them. "Wait, where's Slim?" he then asked.

"Francis? Francis! Francis, I'm stuck." Slim's voice muffled.

"Where?!" Atticus asked.

"I'm over here." Slim's voice said.

"Where?!" Francis asked.

"Here, I'm the only stick with eyeballs!" Slim replied.

"This'll take a long time." Atticus said.

"HELP!" Flik's voice called out. "HELP! HELP!"

"Get him!" Heimlich told the other circus bugs.

Rosie launched Tuck and Roll, attached to her web. The two pill bugs landed on Hopper and pulled on his antennae. They pulled really hard, trying to get Hopper to slow down which of course annoyed the grasshopper, and where he knew how to get them off. Hopper soon saw some branches and flew through those. Dim was too big to fit through and Tuck and Roll were pulled back.

"NO!" Flik cried out.

One of the twin bugs started laughing. Atticus soon came to help in the ways he was raised and built up physically and mentally throughout his years of existence. He soon found Flik and Hopper. Of course, the grasshopper was chasing the ant.

"FLIK!" Princess Atta cried out.

* * *

Soon enough, both Princess Atta and Atticus rescued Flik.

"Princess Atta." Atticus smiled.

"Oh, uh, hello, Atticus." Princess Atta smiled back since she was seen going to help Flik.

They soon saved Flik.

"There." Flik told them to get to the other side of the canyon.

Atticus and Princess Atta quickly joined him.

"Come on. We've gotta hide," Flik said, guiding Princess Atta into a rock before he was going to do the same with Atticus. "No matter what happens, stay down."

Atticus saw where they were and knew why Flik chose this spot.

"Flik, no, what're you doing?!" Princess Atta panicked.

Hopper soon dropped down right in front of Atticus and Flik.

"Hopper, wait, let's talk about this." Atticus said as he and Flik backed up luring the grasshopper to a familiar bird nest.

"You think it's over?" Hopper glared.

"No, no, no, no, no, w-we can explain." Flik stammered nervously.

"All your little stunt did was buy them time." Hopper glared before cornering them.

"But they have and got fed up due to their being picked on by you and the grasshoppers." Atticus told him.

"I'll get more grasshoppers and be back next season, but you won't." Hopper glowered.

* * *

A familiar bird was soon heard above them.

"Well, what's this?" Hopper scoffed. "Another one of your little bird tricks?"

"Yep." Flik said with a smile.

"Are there a bunch of little girls in this one too?" Hopper laughed. "HELLO, GIRLS!"

The bird soon proved it was real as it roared at him. Hopper laughed until he soon freaked out. The bird soon grabbed him and flew in the air over the nest. There were newly hatched chicks who jumped up and looked hungry. The bird, revealing to be a mother, then dropped the evil grasshopper down to her hungry chicks. And that was that as the end of Hopper. The bird soon looked over.

"Whoa!" Atticus yelped and soon ran off with Flik before they would be next.

Eventually, the storm was stopping as the mother bird smiled to her chicks, and where everything was right again, especially for the future state of Ant Island.


	8. Chapter 8

" ** _'Dear Princess Celestia, I learned a very valuable lesson in that all lives matter, even bugs',_** " Darla said as she wrote a letter to the Alicorn Princess of Day in Equestria. " ** _'A bug's life can be just as hard as a person's life, and like I once read in a book, a person is a person, no matter how small. I have to thank Atticus for letting me learn this lesson, of course along with my best friend in the whole world, Amber. I've made friends with these bugs, but I kind of miss being a human, but I hope to maybe have new adventures like this once in a while. Signed a learning young student, Darla Fudo'_**."

"Ready to send it?" Atticus asked.

"Yes, please, I hope she can read my handwriting." Darla smiled to her big brother.

"Oh, she will." Atticus said.

Darla then took out the paper and rolled it up into like a scroll and handed it to Atticus so he could have it get to Princess Celestia. Atticus soon used his magic to send the scroll to Princess Celestia.

Darla smiled before looking to the ant colony. "I'm almost a little sad to leave Ant Island." she then said.

"Oh, would you like to stay an ant forever and live with them?" Atticus asked.

"Uhh...?!" Darla's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm only teasing." Atticus chuckled.

"Whew." Darla sighed.

* * *

Two ants played their trumpets in celebration of the new season.

"It's like Mother Nature agrees this is a new beginning." Amber smiled when she saw the tree blossoming.

"Sweet." Darla nodded back in agreement.

"Hey, check that out!" Cherry pointed out.

The ants seemed to be using Flik's invention to handle the blades of grass.

"Awesome!" Atticus smiled.

"That's pretty neat." Cherry admitted.

"Should we say goodbye?" Darla asked.

"I think you should, but wait a little bit." Atticus advised.

Darla nodded as that sounded fair enough. Dot smiled as she was now able to fly and was considered the new leader of the Blueberry Scouts. Darla was happy for her ant friend.

"Finally, I get a second to relax and I gotta get outta my chair," The Queen said before smirking to Cornelius. "Come on, you can rub lotion on me later, Shade Boy."

"Eeh, ya huppa huppa~" Cornelius replied.

Darla and Amber smiled politely, though looked disturbed when they turned away. They soon saw everyone about to say goodbye to the circus bugs. Dim approached the train, but Rosie saw someone hidden underneath his wings.

"Dim...?" The black widow spider called to the rhino beetle.

Seeing that he'd been caught, Dim opened his wings, revealing some of the young ants who were trying to stow away.

"I'm so sorry, kids; I wish you could come along too." Rosie coaxed.

The Blueberry Scouts began to cry as they hugged their den mother.

"I'm not gonna cry," Francis muttered, though he seemed to be rather emotional. "I'm not gonna cry."

Tuck and Roll soon did one final show for the ants which was about Hopper's demise, and where one of them even had a part of Hopper to help the show.

"Alright, let's go, we've got a schedule to keep," PT announced as his train was fixed and he had somehow reformed before calling out to his new employees, some of which were gymnastic ants. "Come on, let's go, hey Tiny, let's get this show packed up. We've got payin' customers hatching."

"Yes, Mr. Flea, yes sir, of course sir, right away sir," Molt said as he was going to join the circus now. "And, um, I just wanted to thank you for giving me a chance, because it's an honor to work with creative giants, such as yourself."

"Quick, up!" Darla whispered.

The fireflies then closed up the train.

"Shutting up." Molt's voice muffled.

"You sure you can't come on tour with us?" PT asked Flik and the others.

"Sorry, but we need to get back home." Darla said, referring to herself, Amber, Atticus, and Cherry.

"And my place is here." Flik added.

"Suit yourselves," PT shrugged before turning to his crew. "One minute, insects!"

* * *

"I want to thank all of you for giving us back our hope, our dignity, and our lives." Princess Atta told the circus bugs along with Cherry, Atticus, Amber, and Darla.

"I want to thank all of you too." Darla said.

"Oh, well, you're welcome, but what for?" Flik asked Darla.

"We might as well show them." Amber said.

Slim and Manny soon came over with a gift for Princess Atta, but stopped once they saw the others.

"Eh, in a minute." Darla told her best friend.

"Go ahead, guys." Cherry told the stick bug and praying mantis.

"Yes, very well, thank you," Slim said to her before smiling to the older ant princess. "And to you Princess Atta, you have given us so much, please accept this gift from us bugs to you ants."

Manny did a magical gesturing with his hand before revealing his gift to Princess Atta: a small but heavy rock. "For you." The old praying mantis then told the older ant princess.

"She got a rock." Cherry smirked, quoting Charlie Brown.

"And it's nice." Amber said.

"What's with the rock?" Cornelius asked.

"Must be a circus thing." Thorny shrugged.

"So, anyway, thank you so much, Princess Atta and Flik, you made me learn so much about how not everyone has an easy life and a bug's life is more important than I once thought it was." Darla told the ants.

The bugs seemed confused of why Darla said that.

"Atticus?" Darla asked.

"Um, well, how do I explain this without sounding crazy?" Atticus smiled sheepishly.

Cherry whispered a suggestion to him. "Why don't you make us human, but keep us this size until we leave?"

"Ohh, yeah." Attics said before doing just that.

POOF!

The bugs looked away briefly before seeing what Darla had meant.

"You see, we're actually humans," Amber told the bugs. "This was part of a lesson to teach my friend about what your lives are like."

"And where I've learned so much." Darla said.

"Well... I'm glad you were able to learn your lesson... I'm not sure what to say to this though, I've never seen a human up close before." Princess Atta replied.

"I think that's because you'd be under my shoe or swatted away before you could." Cherry mumbled.

"I suppose that's a good point." Princess Atta replied.

"So, thank you for letting me see how wrong I was." Darla smiled.

"You're welcome." Dot said.

"It was really great meeting you." Darla smiled as she hugged the younger ant princess who seemed to be the same age as her and Amber in human years.

"It's a shame you can't stay on Ant Island, but thank you so much for all of your help." Princess Atta smiled to the adventurers.

"It was our pleasure." Amber smiled back.

"Well, Flik, you really goofed up," Rose said, though she sounded emotional. "Thanks."

"Yeah, you too." Flik replied.

Darla could tell if how this was for them. The other bugs soon applauded Flik and the others. Darla smiled and gave a cute curtsy, so Amber did the same while Cherry nodded her head and Atticus bowed.

"Alright, now it's getting mushy," PT said as he took the reigns for his train to make the millipedes go. "We're outta here," he said before getting his millipedes to go. "Yaaah!"

The millipedes soon took off. The circus bugs waved goodbye before Dim soon flew them over Ant Island so they could go.

"See you next season!" Rosie called out.

"See ya, Flik!" Slim added.

The Queen soon took off her crown and put it on her older daughter's head. Princess Atta smiled emotionally to that and gave her tiara to her little sister. Slim soon realized who they forgot.

"YOU'RE FIRED!" Tuck and Roll laughed.

"We forgot Heimlich!" The stick bug gasped.

* * *

On a tree root, a chrysalis hung upside down before moving around. The bottom peeled open, revealing Heimlich inside. "I'm finished! Finally, I'm a beautiful butterfly!" he called out as he soon came out, he looked more or less of the same, but he now had his very own butterfly wings.

Atticus soon used his magic on Heimlich so then his wings could help him fly. Heimlich smiled to him.

"Fly, fly and be free!" Atticus smiled back.

"Thank you so very much!" Heimlich smiled and hugged him before flying off with the other circus bugs. "AUF WIEDERSEHEN!"

* * *

Once Atticus, Cherry, Darla, and Amber were at a perfect distance from the ants so they wouldn't get squashed, Atticus used his magic to make them grow back to normal size.

"Another mission accomplished." Atticus said.

"Atticus, are you related to anyone named Yusei?" Cherry asked as she seemed to be looking through his mail.

"Well, now that you mention it, yeah, I am, why?" Atticus asked.

"You got a letter." Cherry said.

"Why do you look through my mail?" Atticus asked as he took the letter.

"Bored." Cherry shrugged.

Atticus soon opened the letter. Darla and Amber soon walked off, they hoped and knew that Princess Celestia would get Darla's letter, but wondered if she would even respond to it.

"What's it say?" Cherry asked Atticus. "Does he want you to visit or is he going to visit or is something going on?"

"It doesn't really say, it just says it's been so long since we last saw each other, he even got me a new deck." Atticus said before smiling to his new deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards from Yusei.

"I wanna see." Cherry said.

Atticus soon organized the cards and let her take a look.

Cherry smirked as she looked through the cards and her eyes widened at one. "Is this a Crimson Dragon?!" she then asked.

"Whoa!" Atticus smiled.

"That's what it looks like to me." Cherry said as she showed him the card.

Atticus was about to take it, but Cherry held it above her head. "Cherry, that card is mine now..." he then told her.

"Finder's Keepers?" Cherry said innocently.

Atticus simply took the card back.

"Aww..." Cherry pouted.

"I wish this was specific of whether Yusei was coming over or not..." Atticus said as he looked at the letter.

The telephone soon rang.

"Hello?" Darla smiled as she answered it. "Atticus, you have a phone call!"

Atticus soon collected his cards before going to find out who was calling.

"Three guesses who it is." Cherry smirked.

"Hello?" Atticus greeted. "Hey, we were just talking about you!"

Cherry chuckled.

"What's that?" Atticus asked.

 ** _"Hey, can you pick me up?"_ ** A familiar boy asked as he seemed stuck. **_"I went to the train station, and I just realized I have no idea where you live, mind picking me up?"_**

"Sure." Atticus smiled.

 _ **"Thanks,"**_ The boy smiled back. **_"Try not to be too long, okay?"_**

"Sure thing, I'll see you in a few minutes," Atticus said before hanging up. "Gotta go pick up a certain duelist at the train station."

"He didn't have his own ride?" Darla asked.

"I guess he sent that letter out while we were gone, I gotta go." Atticus said before he went to pick up Yusei.

"I'm coming with." Patch smiled.

"Come on then, Patch." Atticus smiled back.

"I think I'm gonna see what's on TV," Cherry said as she left. "I've had enough adventure for one day."

"Alright." Atticus shrugged.

Patch and Atticus then made their way to the train station where Yusei was waiting for them, and where Atticus was excited to see Yusei again. Cherry soon went home to rest up after an eventful adventure. Darla and Amber soon did their homework together, and ironically, a book about a kid learning lessons about a bug's life seemed to come back at them when Amber took out a book called The Ant Bully.

"How ironic." Darla said.

Amber soon giggled and Darla couldn't help but laugh with her at the strange coincidence. They decided to read the book.

* * *

 ** _At the train station..._**

Yusei waited as patiently as he could and soon enough, Atticus came over.

"Hey, sorry about that," Atticus smiled to Yusei. "Nice to see you to come and visit."

"Thanks," Yusei smiled back. "Just wanted to get out of Domino City for a while."

Patch soon came out of the car and came over by Atticus's side. Atticus and Yusei shared a friendly family reunion hug before they would go back to the Fudo house.

"Hi, boy." Yusei smiled down to Patch.

Patch simply panted, but had a small smile back. "Hi."

Yusei bent down and pet the dog gently. Atticus smiled to this until they would get back in the car to start a new experience with Yusei's visit.

The End


End file.
